IT'S OUR PARTY, AND YOU'LL RUN IF WE WANT YOU

By Celia Cohen
Grapevine Political Writer

When Election Day comes, the Democrats want to kick
the stuffing out of the Republicans, and the Republicans
want to make mincemeat out of the Democrats, but on one
thing they agree -- they want to do it without
interference from the minor parties.

With the backing of both major parties, a bill
dealing with ballot access was introduced Tuesday in
Dover. It is uncomplicated legislation, only one
sentence long, proposing that candidates must run only
on the ticket of the party where they are registered.

The measure came about after a mini-summit between
John D. Daniello, the Democratic state chair, and Terry
A. Strine, the Republican state chair.

If it becomes law, the legislation would eliminate
the sort of situation currently giving heartburn to the
Democrats. Karen M. Hartley-Nagle, previously registered
with the Independent Party of Delaware, switched her
affiliation to Democrat and wants to run for the
Congress in 2006 on both party lines.

There is nothing in state law to stop her. In fact,
there is precedent for it as recently as the 2004
election, when Frank Infante ran for governor on both
the Libertarian and Independent Party ballots, a tactic
that still only got him 3 percent of the vote.

Under existing law, even if Hartley-Nagle failed to
survive a Democratic primary against Dennis Spivack, as
would be widely expected, she still would remain on the
Independent Party ballot. It would give her another shot
on Election Day at Spivack, who has enough challenges as
it is in his long-shot race against U.S. Rep. Michael N.
Castle, a seven-term Republican and former governor.

A dual candidacy strikes Daniello as gaming the
system and points out the need for the legislation. "It
protects the two-party system," he said. "It stops
people from double dipping."

In contrast, Hartley-Nagle believes the major parties
ought not to be able to dictate the candidates for the
minor parties. "I think the minor parties should have a
voice and be able to say, we like this person," she
said.

The major parties' keen interest in the ballot-access
bill is evident in the selection of its bipartisan
sponsors -- state Rep. Wayne A. Smith, the House
Republican majority leader, and state Sen. Patricia M.
Blevins, who is not only the chair of the Senate's
Insurance & Elections Committee but also the state
Democratic Party's treasurer.

In addition, the legislation was given one of the low
numbers reserved for important measures. It was
introduced in the House of Representatives as House Bill
9 with the sponsors firmly in concert with the party
line.

"It stems from the fundamental belief that political
parties have a role in our process," Smith said.

"It doesn't allow people to have two bites of the
apple -- lose a primary and run on another ticket,"
Blevins said.

Meanwhile, the Democrats could have more candidates
than Hartley-Nagle trying to crash their party. Recently
Infante and Michael R. Dore, the 2004 Independent Party
candidate for lieutenant governor who polled 1 percent
of the vote, switched their registration to Democratic.

Both are thinking about running for the state
legislature simultaneously on the Democratic and
Independent Party tickets, according to Hartley-Nagle,
with Infante looking at the seat held by state Sen.
James T. Vaughn Sr., a Clayton Democrat, and Dore
considering the one held by state Rep. Diana M.
McWilliams, a Brandywine Hundred Democrat.

The ballot-access bill was drafted without a clause
specifying whether it would take effect in time for the
2006 election or wait until 2008. Until that language is
added, the dual candidacies of Hartley-Nagle and
potentially the others hang in the balance.

There seems little doubt, however, that the
legislation will become law at some point. What is the
purpose of a duopoly if not to perpetuate itself?